Ukraine is planning to limit citizens’ access to court decisions in cases related to mobilization. These are both criminal and administrative proceedings related to violations in the field of mobilization. All such decisions will be classified. Recommendation to adopt the law as a whole provided Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on law enforcement activities.
If the Verkhovna Rada passes this document, citizens will not have access to court decisions in cases related to mobilization, including those related to persons accused of draft evasion. Restrictions will apply both in criminal and administrative cases. The classification will continue for the duration of martial law and for another year after its lifting.
Among the cases to which access will be restricted:
- criminal proceedings on suspicion or accusation of offenses against mobilization (Articles 336-336-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- administrative cases based on claims of territorial assembly centers regarding the temporary restriction of the right of citizens to drive vehicles during mobilization.
In addition, the draft law provides for the classification of decisions containing information on the location of military facilities, educational institutions of a military profile, training centers for military personnel and defense enterprises.
Also, Article 4 of the Law “On Access to Court Decisions” plans to provide that general and full access to decisions in criminal proceedings regarding the seizure of property, refusal to seize it, temporary access to things and documents, refusal of such access, permission to search a person’s home or other property, refusal to conduct a search, permission to conduct covert investigative (search) actions or refusal to conduct them will be opened only one year after the introduction of these resolutions to the Register.
If the law is adopted, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine will have to close access to such court decisions within two months from the moment the law enters into force.
